Once again someone has made the terrible mistake to voice an opinion that differs from Sand Dog. His typical response - How dare you disagree with me - you must be a spy for the other side, since you have never been in this chat room before. Get real Sand Dog. No matter what the topic, you post an o...

GregC may have a valid point, based on state law where he lives, but that is not the case in most states. Without an Employment Agreement which states that accounts written belong to the agency, and/or a Non Compete or Non Solicitation Agreement, there is absolutely nothing to prohibit you from call...

I own an agency with 26 employees, and 5 Producers. Every new Producer goes through an extensive training program, which includes both Producet knowledge, and Sales skills training. I make sales calls with the new Producer, and he/she accompanies seasoned Producers on sales calls. They also spend ti...

It is rare to find a Personal Lines Producer who can develop enough business to make more than $75,000 per year, and that would probably require around 10 years to do. A good commercial Producer could be making that within 3-4 years, and will probably top out around $200,000 in 10 years or so. The w...

I will say a hearty "amen" to everything that Island Girl posted in her response. I have a 4 location 24 person agency and we have been paperless for 2 years now. The additional productivity we have gained has been remarkable. As far as the postings about needed paper for "notes"...

Rob, You said the ex-husband lost his COBRA coverage, so I assume he had been covered under a large group health policy. Are you saying that his 18 months as a terminated employee ran out? What about the kids coverage under COBRA? The kids would have been entitled to 36 months of coverage under COBRA.

The national averages on Producer Compensation are around 40% of the agency commission (You can get these numbers through a number of studies, the best one done by the Society of CIC in Austin, Texas). Most agencies pay a higher commission for new business, and lower for renewals, so you often find ...

Rob, you are correct. Form a corporation or LLC, buy at least $3-4 million in E & O insurance, and sleep well.

Wlunday, Sorry to disagree, but you are wrong. I own a 3 location, 27 employee agency. Prior to getting into the insurance business 30 years ago, I attended law school, before deciding that I preferred insurance. I am a CPCU, CIC, AAI, CLU. I tell you all of this to say that I didn't just fall of th...

I would not recommend a C Corp. This is where you get into the "double taxation" that you mention. The corporation must file a federal tax return each year, and pay tax on profits. Then, when profits are distributed to the owners, they pay personal income tax again. In addition, when selli...

The role you are describing is filled by a CSR/Account Manager in most agencies. CSRs are not normally "just expected to respond to customer phone calls". They are expected to be proactive, up-sell and round out accounts. In the personal lines arena, most of these accounts were "sold&...

Don't misinterpret my message. I am not saying that I agree that it is ethically OK for a departing employee to solicit accounts. What I am trying to get across loud and clear is the fact that courts will side with the employee, unless their is a legally binding Agreement of some type in place. So, ...

Everyone keeps referring to a customer list as a "trade secret". I am an agency owner, and also law school graduate. A customer list does not meet the definition of trade secret. The following is from Black's Law Dictionary: "trade secret n. a process, method, plan, formula or other i...

Your previous employer had the opportunity to protect his interest by using either a Non Compete (which probably wouldn't stand up if challenged); a Non Piracy; or a Confidentiality Agreement. I use a Confidentiality Agreement for all Support Staff, and a Non Piracy for Producers. Assuming your prev...

I want to give a hearty "Amen" to Pita 3333, and congratulate CKelso for doing his homework. Don't take SandDogs comments to personally. This guy has postings on practically every forum on this site, and after reading suffering through them over the last 2 years, it is apparent that he is ...